


home is in your eyes

by realmsoffreedom



Series: gawsten oneshots [1]
Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Fluff, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, this is legit the happiest cutest thing i've ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 03:17:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13137957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realmsoffreedom/pseuds/realmsoffreedom
Summary: It's Christmas.Geoff and Awsten are in love.





	home is in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> okay i was talking to one of my friends earlier and it got me in a really christmassy mood and i got the idea to write this and she was all about it so here we go.
> 
> this is legit the cutest happiest thing i've ever written there is no angst n o n e who am i
> 
> enjoy

“Babe! Hurry up! You’re missing the beginning!”

Awsten shifts all his weight onto one leg, leaning up over the back of the couch to look through the archway into the kitchen. “Geoff! You’re missing it!”

A series of barks are his response, and he grins, leaning down to run his fingers through their Saint Bernard’s fur. “You’ll watch the movie with me, won’t ya Coops? Let stupid Geoff take his time.”

“Relax, I’m coming!” Geoff calls back. He appears in the entryway with a tray balanced in his hands and walks around to set it on the coffee table. He plops down next to Awsten and kisses his cheek. “Nothing’s even happened yet, you needa relax.”

Awsten rolls his eyes and reaches for one of the mugs. “I want everything ta be perfect. S’our first Christmas in our own house.”

“It is, love.” Geoff cups his cheeks with both hands and kisses him. Awsten feels the heat in his cheeks, like someone’s just stuffed them with hot coals. He grips the mug with both hands and tilts his head back. “As long as you’re here.”

“Stop,” he whines. He sets his hot chocolate on the floor beneath them and reaches forward to wrap his arms around Geoff’s neck. He leans forward and Geoff follows. Their foreheads are touching. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply. The air smells faintly of Douglas Firs, from their very real tree _we’re not gonna be one of those weak ass couples with a fake tree Geoff, I swear to god_ and vanilla. The fireplace is crackling a few feet away. A Christmas Carol is playing on the screen in front of them. He has a blanket draped across his shoulders. 

“I love you,” Geoff breathes. Awsten lifts his head slightly and presses his lips against Geoff’s. He tightens his hold on Geoff’s neck. Geoff’s hands move down to his waist. 

“I love you,” Awsten echoes when they pull away. Cooper jumps onto the couch beside them and lies down in the free space of couch. Awsten detaches himself from Geoff and turns his body to rest his head on Geoff’s chest. He brushes a hand through Cooper’s fur, leaving it on his head. Geoff wraps an arm around him and pulls him in. Awsten feels a pair of lips brush against the top of his head and smiles, closing his eyes.

“Merry Christmas, Gee.”

“Merry Christmas, Aws.”

…

“Aws, love, it’s late. We should get ta-”

Geoff stops when he looks down at Awsten. He smiles. He’s sleeping soundly, chest rising and falling steadily, hair falling messily into his eyes. Geoff shifts slightly, sitting up as carefully as possible and trying not to disturb Awsten. He reaches for the remote and turns off the TV. Cooper stands at the sound and turns his head to look at him.

“C’mon boy, goin’ upstairs.” Cooper holds his gaze for a moment and then turns his head toward Awsten.

Geoff laughs. “I didn’t forget him, don’t worry.” They adopted Cooper as soon as they bought a house together. They went to the adoption shelter just to look around, and there was the tiny Saint Bernard puppy, runt of his litter, nose pressed against the wire of his cage, looking at them with the most pleading eyes. His siblings had been adopted months before, a worker had told them, _no one wanted that one. Too small. If someone doesn’t take him soon he might not live to adulthood_.

Awsten was smitten at “no one wanted that one”. _Please, Gee. They’re gonna kill him!_

And so they brought Cooper home and got him everything he needed and that dog attached himself to Awsten’s side. Sure, he loves Geoff too, but he has a favorite and it’s very clear. And Geoff doesn’t blame him. Awsten is everyone’s favorite. Cooper has good taste. The most beautiful sights are when Geoff comes home after a long day at work to Awsten and Cooper playing in the yard, Awsten’s giggle traveling all the way to the front of the house. 

Cooper is their dog but Cooper is _Awsten’s_ dog.

He rests one arm against Awsten’s back, slides another under his knees, and stands in one motion.

“Hmm…”

“Shhh, go back to sleep sweetheart,” Geoff murmurs. He carries Awsten through the house and up the stairs to their bedroom. Cooper runs ahead and waits at their bedroom door. Geoff kicks it open and lays Awsten down on the bed. He steps back and walks into the bathroom.

Quickly, he brushes his teeth and washes his face. When he makes his way back into the bedroom, Awsten has gotten under the covers and Cooper is curled up right beside his head. Awsten is running his hands through Cooper’s fur absentmindedly, dozing off. They make eye contact and Awsten gives him a sleepily smile, holding an arm out. 

Geoff joins him in bed, sliding under the covers and taking Awsten in his arms. Awsten’s back goes flush against his chest and their legs tangle together. Geoff buries his head in the back of Awsten’s neck, the hair their tickling his forehead. He presses his lips against Awsten’s skin and closes his eyes. 

“Goodnight baby, I love you.”

“G’night Gee, love you too.”

…

Awsten blinks rapidly. 

Sun is shining through the windows, bathing them in warmth. The heat is cozy but bright. He squeezes his eyes shut and twists in Geoff’s arms, turning to bury his face in his chest. Geoff snuffles and shifts against him.

“Mmm…”

“Sleep,” Awsten mumbles. “S’early.”

Geoff squeezes him tightly and he lies still for a few seconds, trying to cling to the last bits of sleep. But then…

“It’s Christmas!” He exclaims, sitting straight up. “Gee, it’s Christmas!”

“It’s also 8 in the morning, Aws,” Geoff says sleepily, rolling over to glance at the clock. “C’mere. Let’s sleep for a bit more.”

“But it’s Christmas!” He repeats. He slides off the bed and runs over to Geoff’s side, grabbing onto his arm. “C’mon!”

“Okay, okay,” Geoff relents. He lets Awsten pull him out of bed but stops once he’s on his feet. 

“What?” Awsten asks impatiently. “You can brush your teeth later!”

“I’m not goin’ anywhere until I get my Christmas kiss.”

“Oh my god.” Awsten whirls around and stretches up on his tiptoes to peck Geoff’s lips. He turns to move but Geoff grabs his hips and holds him in place. “Gee, I-”

Geoff cups both his cheeks and presses their foreheads together. “Merry Christmas sweetheart. I love you.”

“Merry Christmas babe,” Awsten murmurs, kissing him again. “I love you.”

…

Whoever came up with the expression ‘as happy as a kid on Christmas morning’ had to have witnessed this.

The pure happiness and joy radiating from Awsten is infectious. He’s sitting on the floor amidst a pile of presents with the biggest, brightest smile on his face. Cooper is standing beside him and barking loudly. 

“We’re waiting for the others to do presents, right?” 

Geoff nods and slides down onto the floor beside Awsten. “But I don’t think they’d care if we did ours to each other…”

Awsten’s grin widens. He reaches for an envelope in the corner. Geoff grabs a present from under a bunch of boxes and brings it to his chest, beginning to turn it over and over in his hands. 

“Do you wanna go first or should I?”

“You.”

Geoff nods and extends the hand with the package. As Awsten begins to tear the tape off, he starts to explain, “I know you’re always writing on your phone so you don’t technically _need_ a journal, but you have so much goin’ on up there and I thought you’d like a physical place to put your lyrics that’s just yours, not the notes app on your phone. So you could like go off on a heavy day and write and not needa take your phone. I dunno, I just thought-”

Awsten cuts him off with a hard kiss. He smiles against Awsten’s mouth and drags him closer. “So you like it then?”

“It’s perfect.” Awsten flips through the black, leather-bound book. When he gets to the first page, the dedication, he stops, brushing the pads of his fingers over what’s written there. Geoff smiles, leaning over his shoulder to reread what he wrote.

‘This journal belongs to: the beautiful and unbelievably complicated mind of my favorite human being on the planet’

“I love you,” Awsten says. “Thank you. I…I don’t even know what to say. This is perfect. Just what I needed.”

“I just set myself up for days of not seeing you or getting texts back, didn’t I?” Geoff kisses the top of his head and rests a hand on his back. 

“My present, um…” Awsten hands him the envelope. He won’t look at him. His gaze is turned to the floor. “I didn’t know what to get. I went shopping for days, dragged Otto and Jawn and Travis to so many stores, and nothing felt right.” The envelope feels kind of heavy. Geoff opens it and out fall a piece of paper and a small necklace. “So I did what I do best and wrote you a song. But it felt lame not to _give_ you something, so…” He trails off. His cheeks are starting to pink up. “This is so stupid, oh my god.”

The chain is soft silver. The pendant hanging from it is a tiny anchor. “I get wrapped up in my head a lot,” Awsten continues. “I feel a lot of things and it gets overwhelming and sucks sometimes because it’s so suffocating. But you…you bring me back down. You’re my anchor. You keep me grounded.” He pulls a matching chain from under his shirt. “And I wanted you to have this to remind you on days when _you_ feel bad or sad or whatever, that you’ll always be that for me. You’ll always be important to me even when you don’t feel important to the world.”

“Aws…” Geoff chokes out. His chest is tight. His head feels fuzzy. His heart is racing. “Baby, oh my god…”

“You haven’t even heard the song yet,” Awsten says. He jumps up and reaches for his guitar. “I haven’t warmed up or anything, so sorry if it’s a little rough.”

“Light us up until we pop, I wanna burn bright ‘till we’re not, let’s keep each other safe from the world…”

And Geoff listens. He listens with tears in his eyes and by the end of the song they’re running down his cheeks, dripping down his chin and clinging to his neck. Awsten plays the last chord and freezes in place for a second, smiling softly at him.

He moves first. He shoots up and crosses over to the couch in one stride. Awsten barely sets his guitar down before he grabs him, pulling him into his chest and squeezing tight. “I love you I love you oh my fucking _god_ I love you so much Aws.”

Awsten giggles. “I love you too Gee, but you’re kinda squeezin’ me…”

“Too bad. You just gave me the best gift I’ve ever gotten. You’re not goin’ anywhere.”

…

“See? I _told_ you!”

“You owe me ten bucks!”

“No one bets on Christmas!”

“I do, and you better fuckin’ pay up.”

Awsten lets out a soft groan, turning to hide his face in Geoff’s chest. Giving their friends a key to the house is simultaneously the best and worst decision they’ve ever made. Opening presents is going to be fun but cuddling with Geoff and petting Cooper may just be heaven personified and he’s not sure he wants to leave yet.

“At least they weren’t doin’ it,” Grace says. “God, _fuck_ all of us if we walked in on them having sex.”

“Who does it on Christmas morning?”

“People who get proposed to.”

“Been there, done that.”

Awsten looks down at the ring on his finger with a smile. He remembers the day Geoff proposed like it was yesterday. It wasn’t planned. There was no long speech or elaborate proposal. Geoff didn’t even have a _ring_. He just decided out of the blue that he wanted to do it, _you were laughing at something and god, in that moment, you’d never looked more beautiful. And I knew I wanted to wake up to that every day for the rest of my life_.

Being engaged is so much better than just dating. Having a bad day and looking down at the ring on his finger, the _promise_ of forever, dealing with bitchy bank people on the phone that _yes, me and my_ fiancé _will look it over and call you back_ , knowing exactly where their relationship is headed and taking the next step…

He wouldn’t trade it for the world.

He looks from the ring to his and Geoff’s joined hands and the presents under the tree and Otto sneakily trying to get Grace under the mistletoe and Jawn snapping pictures of their decorated living room and Travis typing something on his phone and Cooper barking up a storm and turns his head to pull Geoff into a kiss. 

Geoff glances at him when they pull away from each other. “Hmm?”

His chest is an ocean of warmth. His head is quiet. The feeling is impermeable. His hands are tingling. His heart is slowing. Geoff’s is beating against his ear, a steady metronome that would lull him back into sleep if they didn’t have company.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
